[Closed] Mk5 GTI owners

DSG is your friend, they are fine, but get 17" wheels not 18" hell of a difference.

im seriously tempted to get another!

I've got the Leon fr, same engine and chassis, same DSG box. Fine on long journeys. Get around 33mpg on the motorway, more possible but it's not any fun 😉 - oh and 18s, 17s look pap

Slow

Fair bit of Road noise on 18" especially if on bridgestones ( better on goodyears)
Build quality very Average (had highline with leather and Dsg box)
Pick ure car carefully as lot of rough ones about a good one will come with lots of recipts as they like the garage.
Had from11k- 52k and it had,
Gearbox control unit
Stur mounts twice ( then vw replaced struts and springs as 18" spec wheels should have slightly softer springs)
Rear wheel bearings
Ignition coils ( the early ones catch fire)
Header tank recall
Rust on front wings as arch liner rubs paint away
Not trying to put u off as I forgave it because it drove great and the engine with the Dsg box combo is brill.

Are they really that bad^?? Not a GTI but I did 90,000 miles in an early mk5 golf gttdi and never had anything go wrong AT ALL. Just had 4 services done on it.

I had an 07 one from new for just short of 3 yrs. Did about 35k miles in it. great fun and lovely to drive but :

starter motor replaced when 2 weeks old
rear wheel bearings replaced under warranty
door trims fell off
the paintwork was a mess - I went for red (fast !!) and it was very soft - dozens of stone chips through to the white undercoat.

kinda put me off vw's

I've had mine just over 4 years, 6th gear, plenty of torque and a very comfortable seat, its great on the motorway. The only problem I have had was a minor issue with a motor in the aircon. I don't pay much attention to mpg, sorry.

I had no problems at all with mine, 17s & DSG, I loved that Gbox. Very comfy, proper GT car. Got a mk6 now, more refined in every aspect

Had a 54 plate 3 door manual from Aug 06 to Jan 08. Bought with 8500 miles sold at 39000 miles.

Had a front hub replaced under warranty otherwise nothing went wrong. Servicing reasonable - used Awesome GTI Store, highly recommended.

Averaged 31 mpg (calculated from fill ups not trip computer) over my 30000 miles.

Had 18s on, maybe a bit harsher than 17s but look so much better. Ran a MK1 GTI on coilovers for 10 years so don't mind a hard ride (ooer missus). One of the car mags lapped various tracks "much" quicker on 17s if thats your thing.

Very capable car. Nice and civilised if you are being sensible, quick enough if you want to be a hooligan.

Seats very very comfy, 6 hour journey without a hint of backache. Not noisy either in my opinion.

Unlike iainc I had no issues with stone chips. Mine was metallic black if that makes a difference. VW paint is usually notoriously hard according to detailing geeks on their forums.

Got rid because I needed something bigger. Don't need as big car now so would I get another. Yes.

I had an '05 for three years from launch, then an '08 Ed30 for three years, 150,000 miles between the two. First was manual, second DSG. GTI did 34-35 on long journeys, Ed30 did 28-29, not sure how much was gearbox and how much different engine. Both 'boxes great. Refined on the motorway, fantastic chassis off it (not the same as a Leon). A genuine do everything car. I'd still be in one of some description if it wasn't for work car scheme change.

They do share the same platform albeit with slightly different shock ratings etc
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEAT_León. Wish they shared more, the ride is a bit too hard in mine!

Yeah that's what I was getting at. Test drove an FR and Cupra before Ed30 and ride wasn't nearly as good as the Golf's. Didn't find switch from 17" to 18" wheels an issue on the second car, and looked much better.

leons are nice but have one of the worst designed dashboards in the history of car design.

I've got a 57 plate mk5 with 18" wheels. Had it 2 yrs and thus far no issues. Road noise on the bigger wheels is slightly worse, but unless you drive about without the radio on you won't notice it!

Ride comfort is good on long journeys and as someone mentioned the seats are v v comfortable.

Its been said above and in lots of press, the mk5 is the return to a proper GTI's, from mk2 onwards VW made them slower and heavier. The mk5 can be a real hooligan if you poke it with a stick, but then once you've got 12points you can cruise around!

MPG, come on if you buy a car like this then expect lower than average figures... you can spend a couple of hunderd and have it chipped and that should improve your motorway average and give you a bit more bhp, but more power will stress components more e.g. clutch, gearbox!

If your thinking of buying a hothatch the mk5/6 is probably the best alrounder and the easiest to live with.... I'll be buying another! 😀